Air Flow Cooking Device

Abstract

The invention relates to a household cooking appliance (1) comprising food-receiver (2) for receiving loose pieces of food (100), and heater means including generator means (3) for generating a flow of air (4), said household appliance being characterized in that the generator means (3) for generating the flow of air (4) include an air outlet (5) and an air inlet (6), the appliance (1) further comprising a screen (7) arranged relative to the air outlet (5) and to the air inlet (6) so that it forces the flow of air (4) to go around the screen (7) in order to reach the air inlet (6) from the food-receiver (2). Cooking appliances of the deep fryer type.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention relates to the general technical field of appliances designed for cooking and / or heating up food, in particular loose pieces of food, and it relates particularly to the field of appliances designed for cooking and / or heating up food in the presence of fat.[0002]The present invention relates more particularly to a household appliance for cooking and / or heating food that comprises food-receiver for receiving loose pieces of food, and heater means for heating said loose pieces of food, which heater means include generator means for generating a flow of air.PRIOR ART[0003]Appliances are already known in the prior art that implement a flow of air for heating or cooking food.[0004]Such known appliances are thus provided with a fan that blows a stream of hot air over the food to be cooked, which food is disposed on a grid inside a housing.[0005]Such prior art apparatus is specially designed so that the flow of air moves inside the housing in a cyc...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0017]An object assigned to the invention is therefore to remedy the various drawbacks listed above and to propose a novel appliance for cooking and / or heating food that, while being of very simple design, makes it possible to cook and / or heat food particularly effectively and homogeneously, and in particular that makes it possible, when so desired, to obtain a result that is significantly close to frying, without implementing a large quantity of oil.

[0018]Another object of the invention is to propose a novel appliance for cooking and / or heating food that makes it possible to achieve heat exchange that is particularly effective with the food to be heated and / or cooked.

[0019]Another object of the invention is to propose a novel appliance for cooking and / or heating food that is of particularly simple and inexpensive construction.

Problems solved by technology

Unfortunately, implementing such a cyclonic flow requires the appliance to be of relatively complex construction so as to enable air to flow around the food, while also requiring a high-power fan to be disposed in a manner that is relatively voluminous and unpleasing to the eye on the lid of the appliance.

Such prior art apparatus, which can be likened to an oven, also does not make it possible to cook or to heat up the food in a liquid cooking medium, such as, for example, a small quantity of oil.

In particular, in addition to the dynamics of the flow of air it uses being relatively complex, such known apparatus dos not genuinely make it possible to establish, in particularly from a thermal point of view, the conditions specific to guaranteeing that a Maillard reaction takes place that is sufficient for obtaining food having the same qualities in terms of taste as if it were fried in a bath of oil.

Firstly, in order to provide the frying bath, conventional deep fryers implement a large quantity of oil. That gives rise to handling difficulties for the user when filling the deep fryer, when moving it, and above all when emptying it.

Such a high-temperature frying bath is also a source of a risk of being scalded, be it by oil or fat spitting from the bowl of the appliance or due to the user being clumsy (oil or fat being spilt from the appliance).

That risk of scalding or of accidents is increased by the fact that such a large quantity of oil requires a relatively lengthy pre-heating stage before the food can be inserted into the bowl for frying purposes.

That can lead to the user forgetting that the oil bath is being pre-heated, with all of the harmful consequences to which such absence of surveillance might give rise.

In addition, such known deep fryers are relatively costly to use since they require regular purchases of a large quantity of oil (at least 1.5 liters (l) to 2 l of oil is generally required for frying 1 kilogram (kg) of pieces of fresh potato).

The user thus naturally saves oil by re-using the same frying bath a plurality of times, which is unsatisfactory from the points of view of hygiene and of taste.

In addition, the user can re-use the frying bath even when it is degraded, which can be harmful to health.

Furthermore, discarding used oil can pose serious environmental damage problems.

Finally, heating such a quantity of oil to a high temperature gives rise firstly to discharge of odors that can be particularly unpleasant, and secondly to polymerization of the oil that makes it difficult and irksome to clean the appliance.

Images